London: In a new study, researchers including one of Indian origin have measured the activity of a brain region known to be involved in learning, memory and Alzheimer's disease during sleep.
UCLA researchers
discovered that this part of the brain behaves as if it's remembering something, even under anaesthesia, a finding that counters conventional theories about memory consolidation during sleep.

The research team simultaneously measured the activity of single neurons from multiple parts of the brain involved in memory formation.

"When you go to sleep, you can make the room dark and quiet and although there is no sensory input, the brain is still very active," said study senior author Mayank R Mehta.

ANI

Soon, cream to fight skin cancerLondon: Scientists have taken the first step towards creating a simple cream that they hope could one day treat skin cancer. Researchers at Melbourne's RMIT University have designed a new chemical that acts like a known virus by killing off melanoma cells.

While the chemical is effective at destroying the cancer cells, normal skin cells remain unharmed.

According to Dr Taghrid Istivan, the preliminary research will hopefully lead to developing a cream to treat early stage melanoma.

"We found it is active against cancer cells, against melanoma, but it doesn't harm the normal cells," the Telegraph quoted her as saying.

ANI

US designed flying saucer in '50sLondon: Even though official alien existence may never have been recorded, their supposed preferred method of transport has come close to becoming a reality - flying saucers.

Detailed diagrams and sketches, which were released last month by the National Archives, show the mind-blowing military initiative, named Project 1794 to build an all-powerful fully-functioning flying saucer to patrol the skies.

US Air Force engineers working on the project got so far as initial rounds of product development and had begun prototype design before their endeavours crashed.

ANI

Cure for coral-eating starfishSydney: An Australian research team said Monday they have found an effective way to kill the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish that are decimating coral reefs across the Pacific and Indian oceans.

The discovery by James Cook University's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Queensland state comes after a study showed the Great Barrier Reef had lost more than half its coral cover in the past 27 years.